Bluebird Conservation
Bluebird Conservation Project
Each year we encourage people to participate in the Bluebird Conservation project, a long-standing project focused on helping our Bluebird population thrive. Early March is a great time to get started! Visit our Bluebird Conservation Project page on our EGC website: https://www.eastongardenclubofct.org/egc-bluebird-conservation-project to learn about Bluebirds, how to create a habitat, where to position nesting boxes to provide shelter, how to help entice Bluebirds to use the nesting box, and even designs for building a box.
For people with existing boxes, now is the time to clean them out. Learn how to tell the difference between the tidy nest of the Bluebird and other birds or wildlife who may have taken up residence. Look for the nest and eggs of the house sparrow and remove them from your nesting box. They attack and kill Bluebirds, their eggs and take over the nests. House sparrow nests, eggs, adults, and young may be legally removed. A house sparrow nest is very sloppy. It is made of coarse grass, rootlets, leaves, straw, and possibly bits of cloth and litter, which fill the cavity. It often has a domed roof when built in a nest box and may vary in size. The three to seven eggs are oval and white, gray or greenish, with irregular, brown speckles. Visit https://www.eastongardenclubofct.org/egc-bluebird-conservation-project to learn more.
Here is a list of listing of native trees, shrubs, and vines that will provide fall and winter food for Bluebirds:
Trees
American Mountain Ash (Sorbus americana)
Shadbush (Amelanchier canadensis)
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Alternate-leaf Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
American Holly (Ilex opaca)
Shrubs
Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
Silky Dogwood (Cornus amomum)
Red-osier (red-stemmed) Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
Smooth Sumac (Rhus glabra)
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Vines
Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) Note: aggressive spreader
Grape (Vitus spp.) Note: aggressive spreader